CASD school board must resign

The Benner Building is home to the offices of the Coatesville Area School District. The resignation of two top officials had some residents questioning at a recent meeting if they should have been terminated.
Staff photo by Vinny Tennis

Let’s be clear about one thing from the start: every school board, every city council, every township board of supervisors and every borough council has issues. Running a municipality, a city or a school board takes a lot of time, effort and dedication.

But the few requirements aside from being good with numbers or being good with people include the basics of being an ethical, honest person serving the public for the good of the people.

And like it or not, the City of Coatesville’s municipal government has had its issues of integrity over the years. There have been some people who have served who have had less than the good of the populous as their motivations. And many of them are gone.

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Not so much over the years or at least to the degree of the city’s woes has been the Coatesville Area School Board. The CASD serves students in the City of Coatesville, Valley Township, Caln, West Brandywine, East Fallowfield, Sadsbury, Modena, West Caln, and South Coatesville.

That means that every school board member should be looking out for every taxpayer and student from each and every town they represent.

Today, sadly, we say that hasn’t happened. And we’re not talking about general politics or differences in philosophy. What we’re talking about today is a total disregard for every man, woman and child in the Coatesville Area School District including all of the good people who work for the district.

This is the beginning of a news story that appears on today’s front page:

“The abrupt departure of the Coatesville Area School District superintendent and an administrator came two weeks after numerous exchanges of inappropriate and racially charged text messages were discovered on their district-issued cell phones, and multiple sources have indicated that school board officials were not only aware of the exchanges, but were prepared to allow the pair to remain in their positions until the conduct prompted a criminal investigation.”

Now read the story written and reported by Michael Price and Kristina Scala. And go online to our website to read the horrific exchanges of text messages between the two men who are among highest in position in the CASD – Superintendent Richard Como and Athletic Director Jim Donato.

After carefully examining the fine reporting of Price and Scala and reading the exchanges between the two district employees charged with being stewards of our children, you tell us what should be their fates: carefree retirement with all the benefits of someone who put forth best effort? We think not. But we will leave their fates to higher authorities.

Now we’re sure they will all tell you they had no idea of the offensive exchanges between Como and Donato. We’re certain that the evidence we have obtained from highly-placed sources close to the situation indicates that just isn’t the truth so denial of knowledge or pretending they didn’t know isn’t going to work here.

The facts seem to be that two men who obviously knew better let a lot of people down – parents, faculty and especially the students they passed in the halls each and every day. Their behavior is beyond description, beyond words.

But the behavior of the people who control their fate seems to be at least as bad. And if these two men needed to go – as they did, albeit on their own terms – then every member of the school board needs to be held accountable as well.

We believe the entire school board of the Coatesville Area School District must resign immediately. There are no words, no explanations, no excuses that can either make this go away or get better.

Ladies and gentlemen of the school board, please leave. Immediately. You all know it’s the correct choice before matters get worse.